Rudolf Baumbach, (born September 28, 1840, Kranichfeld, Thuringia [Germany]—died September 21, 1905, Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany) German writer of popular student drinking songs and of narrative verse.

Rudolf Baumbach.

From Sommermärchen by Rudolf Baumbach, 1881

A librarian in Meiningen, Baumbach was a poet of the vagabond school and wrote, in imitation of Viktor von Scheffel, many drinking songs, such as “Die Lindenwirtin” (“The Linden Hostess”), which endeared him to the German student world. His real strength, however, lay in narrative verse, especially concerning the scenery and life of his native Thuringia. Among his best-known works are Frau Holde (1880), Spielmannslieder (1882; “Songs of a Troubadour”), and Von der Landstrasse (1882; “On the Highway”).